Blood Oath - Pact No. 7
$119
Blood Oath – Pact No. 7
Proof: 98.6
Age: Blend of a 14 year Ryed Bourbon and 2 different 8 year Ryed Bourbons
Distillery: Lux Row Distillers
Type: Finished (Sauternes wine casks) Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Mash: Unknown
Website: Blood Oath Bourbon
*Disclaimer: A score of 5 is the midpoint for my reviews. Above 5 I like it. Below 5 I didn’t for some reason. Most of my reviews are between 4-7. It takes something really really special to go above 7 or below 4. See the methodologies for rating at the end of the article
Nose: Warm and Fruity nose with plenty of mature notes. Bold Damp Oak, Caramel, Orange, Apricot, with a Rye Spice finish. The Oak and Fruit are dominant.
Taste/Palate: Medium Oak leads the charge followed by fruit notes of Caramel Apple and Pear. In the Midpalate you get a bite of Tobacco, Mild Leather and Honey.
Finish: There’s a Bold Char on the finish, but not overwhelming. The finish shows the age of this dram, more so than what the blended years suggest. The oak fades and you’re left with a pleasant Light Fruit Medley sitting on the mouth with mature notes hanging in the background. The Rye Spice and Cinnamon make a cameo appearance in the finish, but very muted.
Verdict: I very much enjoyed this pour. Typically the mature notes I pick up with this dram would be accompanied by darker fruit, but this was a pleasant highlight of lighter fruits with mature notes and subtle spice. This delivered for the MSRP price and I’d pay it again for a back-up bottle. It’s a toss up which dram I prefer, Pact 7 or 8 for completely different reasons. That’s one thing I really like about the Blood Oath line.
The Story: I picked up a bottle of Pact 7 last year, but way to late to do a timely review. Instead I cracked it open and on occasion enjoyed the bottle. Here we are a year later and I have Pact 8. It would make no sense to review Pact 8 without some idea about what came before. So here we are, doing an untimely review of Pact 7 just to stack it up against Pact 8. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
The Distillery’s Story: John Rempe (Blood Oath Creator) – “A masterful union of three well-bred bourbons. One, a 14-year extra-aged ryed bourbon. Two, an 8-year ryed bourbon. And three, another 8-year ryed bourbon, finished in sauternes wine casks from the Bordeaux region of France for a balance of sweetness with additional spice.”
“That every batch of Blood Oath is the undertaking of one man — a student of both bourbon and science. Loyal to no one family, favoring no one distillery and bound by no one philosophy – this bourbon connoisseur has one goal in mind – to seek out bourbons rare and wonderful, famous and forgotten. Then bottle them in combinations previously unimagined for a lucky few. Not to cater to anyone’s loyalties, he has sworn to never reveal where he finds his bourbon, but only to promise to choose and make the best he knows. Loose lips never tasted something so special.”
Methodologies for Rating:
1. Dump it down the drain or regift it to someone you don’t care for.
2. This doesn’t even belong in a mixed drink. Use in case of an emergency.
3. It’s really not for me, but I heard some people like it.
4. Its only good when I’ve had too many and it’s decent in a mixer.
5. Average. Not bad, but not special.
6. Above average. Good to bring to an event and you wouldn’t expect any guff from it.
7. Buy two if you see it to make sure you have one on reserve.
8. Very Very good. Constantly a GREAT POUR.
9. Superb. If I were to drink this and only this from now on I’d be a happy person.
10. Perfection is impossible. But this really comes as close as you can possibly get.
Reviewer: David S
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